BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 14 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares closed at their lowest in more than a week on Thursday, as a grim economic forecast from the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve poured cold water on hopes for a quick recovery.

** At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 350.56 points, or 1.45%, at 23,829.74, the lowest since May 4. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.51% to 9,687.1. ** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 2.2%, while the IT sector rose 0.48%, the financial sector ended 1.62% lower and the property sector dipped 1.97%. ** China’s main Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.96% at 2,870.34 points, while the blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 1.08%. ** China needs more active fiscal policy as pressure on its economy is still increasing, according to an article by Finance Minister Liu Kun published in the official People’s Daily.

** Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday warned of a recession worse than any since World War Two, and called for additional fiscal spending to stem the fallout from the pandemic. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.32%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed down 1.74%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.0951 per U.S. dollar at 08:15 GMT, 0.06% weaker than the previous close of 7.091.

** Bucking the trend, shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, surged nearly 10% to their highest since December 2004 on robust first-quarter results. (Reporting by Zhang Yan in Beijing, and Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai; Editing by Aditya Soni)